Hapoel Tel Aviv v Hapoel Petah Tikva — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Ligat Ha'al · Friday, 18 September 2026. Final score 3–0 (half-time 2–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 53% for over 2.5 goals. This match is older than our frozen ratings ledger, which keeps 30 days, so that figure is a reconstruction from pre-match data rather than a number we published at the time — a distinction worth making, because only the frozen ones prove what we actually said beforehand.

Open this match in the app →

Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals53%47%Over
Over 3.5 goals36%64%no pick
Both teams to score51%49%Yes

The result model puts Hapoel Tel Aviv at 73%, the draw at 18% and Hapoel Petah Tikva at 9%, from expected goals of 2.26 and 0.66.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Ligat Ha'al has produced over 2.5 goals in 56% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Hapoel Tel Aviv have 3 in 4 this season (2 of 2 at home), Hapoel Petah Tikva 1 in 4 (1 of 2 away). Those records are pulled toward the league rate with the weight of about 24 matches — enough that two or three unusual games cannot swing a rating — giving 58% and 51%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 4 and 4 games played this season, last season's rates are still blended in and fade out entirely by game 40 — the point at which our testing showed they stop adding accuracy. A single season is part luck, so each club's record is first pulled toward the league average by 34 games' weight. That moves the two figures to 50% and 55%.

The mix. Weighted 40% home side, 40% away side and 20% league — the split that beat every alternative across 30,582 matches of testing — that gives 53%.

Head to head. These sides have met 7 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 29%. That nudges the number 5% of the way toward the head-to-head pattern — deliberately small, because fixtures change more than reputations do — landing on 52%.

Goal expectation. Separately a Poisson model built from attack and defence strength — using real expected-goals data where the league has it — puts this match at 56%, from expected goals of 2.26 for Hapoel Tel Aviv and 0.66 for Hapoel Petah Tikva. Folding in 30% of that view gives 53%.

This breakdown is generated from the same inputs the rating uses, so it cannot describe a calculation we did not perform. The full model is set out in the methodology.

Season form

TeamGamesO2.5O3.5BTTS
Hapoel Tel Aviv475%50%25%
Hapoel Petah Tikva425%0%25%

Head to head

12 May 26Hapoel Tel Aviv 1–0 Hapoel Petah TikvaU2.5
25 Apr 26Hapoel Petah Tikva 0–1 Hapoel Tel AvivU2.5
11 Apr 26Hapoel Petah Tikva 0–0 Hapoel Tel AvivU2.5
6 Dec 25Hapoel Tel Aviv 4–0 Hapoel Petah TikvaO2.5
13 Apr 24Hapoel Tel Aviv 1–1 Hapoel Petah TikvaU2.5
4 Mar 24Hapoel Petah Tikva 0–0 Hapoel Tel AvivU2.5

More: Hapoel Tel Aviv season stats · Hapoel Petah Tikva season stats · Ligat Ha'al table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.